Short step-by-step...

Here is a short step-by-step tutorial that i quickly put together. This is one of the ways I like to work digitally. I still have some work to do on the subject (mostly the hair), but I thought I'd share a little bit about how I work and how I do my digital paintings. Enjoy! :)

Flickr

Here is a link to my Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonymontano/

Recent works...

Been busy lately, which is a good thing ;) but I thought I'd post something I did this morning real quick. Can't wait till LOST returns early next year.

Obama

Jungle Paintball Magazine

Well here it is!

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This guy was pretty fun to sketch briefly...

Pencil drawing

Here's a semi-quick (30min) pencil drawing I just finished tonight. I sketch all the time with mechanical pencils in my sketchbook, but I haven't sat down and used traditional pencils to do drawings for quite sometime. I used to draw in pencil all the time when I was younger, but I usually just go straight to the computer to make artwork now. I might be doing some commission work here pretty soon in this medium so I wanted to have a practice run. I added a duotone color to this drawing on the computer to add some warmth. Hopefully soon I can practice some more, this was a lot of fun :)

Something I'm working on...

Just wanted to post a sneak peak of what I am working on. Stay tuned...

Promo piece

Some stuff I did this morning...

Here is a caricature of Megan Fox and a quick painting of Christian Bale from T4. I feel like I am getting back into the swing of things. I will still work on Megan Fox a little bit more, not quite finished yet. Let me know what you think :)

From my sketchbook...

Some quick sketches of random people and a few hand studies. Drawing and sketching everyday is very important to me, even if it's on a napkin that gets thrown away later... but I try to always keep a sketchbook with me. So if you haven't sketched anything yet today, find something to draw with and get to it!

Magazine Cover

This is a cover of a magazine I did for my last assignment in my graphic design class. I did more pages in the magazine, but I just wanted to share the cover. It's pretty fun working with flat shapes and simple colors. 

Some more class stuff...

Thought I should post something otherwise you might think I stopped making stuff ;) I have been really busy with Graphic Design assignments and portfolio stuff. Here is something I am working on in my class now. We could choose a bunch of different kinds of projects, but I chose to do an Annual Report. I have never done one and haven't done a lot of projects that are organized and corporate looking so I thought I would try one. I am learning a lot while working on this assignment, although this one is very time consuming. My eyes are exhausted haha. This Annual Report consists of a cover, 3 narrative spreads and 2 financial spreads, plus an additional cover to be mounted. Everything else will be bound into a booklet. Hopefully it will print well and I won't mess anything up while cutting and glueing pages back to back. My class will end in about 2 weeks so hopefully then I can finish some paintings and start some new projects.

Morning sketch...

Morning sketch of Mark Twain. I'll be working on him some more... just wanted to post something on here since I haven't for awhile :)

Sketches...

Jim Gaffigan and Adrien Brody sketches... I will spend more time with them, almost have their likeness down. 

Some old and new stuff...

Just wanted to share some concept and fantasy artwork. Some of these are older, but I still enjoy them. I love concept artwork. I wish I had the ability to think of this kind of stuff in my head and illustrate it with ease. I usually have to reference photos, poses, and other artists' work for lighting and color, but I learn a lot when when I try this kind of illustration. Plus this type of illustration is always fun :) I did these in Photoshop and Corel Painter X. I usually just practice with new brushes and stylize the characters when do these things...

Conference Cover...

My Graphic Design class was given the opportunity to design a cover for a Student Event held at my school. Just wanted to post something that I have been working on. I wanted to have a person in the middle of the cover and then have abstract, iconic, and symbols coming out of the head and placed throughout the background of the front and back. I have different icons representing different departments of the school that will be attending this event. I had a lot of fun doing this cover. I used Andrew Jones's method of taking patterns and making cool abstract designs. I used one of Eric Hamilton's photos for reference for the person on the front. Unfortunately, I didn't keep the person on the front in the end. I think my final design is pretty good. I like the textures, shapes, and symbols. Colors turned out well. I will let you know if my design gets chosen, but my peers did some amazing work too so we'll see ;)

Johnny Cash

Been working on some Johnny Cash caricature sketches. Still haven't nailed an exaggerated likeness yet, but I'll get it :) I may also do some of him at an older age. The first one I used a textured chalk brush, second is ink and watercolor, and the third a pencil sketch...

Ron Howard

I love Ron Howard films. He is one of my favorite contemporary film directors. He also has a pretty cool face. I had a lot of fun working on him. I did a very rough sketch of him a few months back, and I always wanted to come back and work on him some more. I finished a school project early, so I spent a few hours painting him in photoshop today. I used some different textured brushes on this sketch, most of them square/chalk brushes. I think it turned out pretty cool and still maintains Ron's likeness. What do you think?  I'll continue to use these brushes so stay tuned for more. I like seeing interesting textures inside portraits. 

"Get to da Choppa!"

I was just sitting on my computer checking the usual sites and blogs... when I caught a glimpse of George Bush and his wife get into a helicopter on the tube... I started to think... I've never done a caricature sketch of George W. ..., so here you go... here's a rough sketch of our former President. 

Morning sketch...

Just a quick sketch I did of Edward Norton this morning. I enjoyed seeing him as the new HULK... he has a pretty cool face... hopefully I can do more sketches of him soon.

Poynter Institute 2008 Election Book

The Poynter Institute selected a bunch of newspapers both nationally and internationally to be included in this book. All of them are front covers of the 2008 Election. They selected Boise State University's newspaper, The Arbiter, of which I was one of the newspaper's non-paid illustrator interns. My illustration was one of the lucky ones chosen. I had an interview with one of the reporters from the Poynter Institute too... kinda cool for me because I don't get a lot of recognition. I am very honored to be included in this book :)

Audrey...

Here's a drawing in pencil that I just finished for one of my buddies...

Had some free time this morning...

Now that classes are over I was finally able to work on something personal. However, since I hadn't done a caricature digital painting for over a month I started out with the basics that I learned from Jason Seiler's class back in the summer. Started out in my trial version of sketchbook pro, and then went to photoshop for the rest. I think this sketch came out pretty well. I spent almost three hours on this... kinda slow if you ask me, but hopefully now that I have a few weeks of break I can get into the swing of things and post more work. 

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I was looking through one of my sketchbooks today and noticed this random sketch I did in class weeks ago... kinda liked it so I thought I'd post it...

Obama Wins!

I worked on this yesterday evening into the wee hours of the night for my internship at The Arbiter. I started with two paintings, one of each candidate winning, but at around 9pm last I decided to just concentrate on the Obama one... turns out I made a correct choice haha. This was a fun illustration, but done very fast and somewhat sloppy. If you zoomed in on my original you'd see a ton of loose paint strokes, messy lines, and very simplified renderings. Painted in black and white and then added color afterwards. I also added in a motion blur of the hand and arm, I think it looks cool. I did several sketches before hand... but I spent about a total of  6 hours on this one, which isn't a lot of time for my usual work. Learned a lot from this painting though. Simplified forms and big brushes can go a long way :)

This was a fun sketch...

Had some time today to do this sketch of Obama and McCain... I might possibly turn this into a painting later...

Something I'm working on...

Something I'm working on currently.... stay tuned...

Self-Portrait...

Had some time the other day to do a self-portrait caricature... not a flattering sketch, but none the less I think it captures my usual tired/reserved/quiet nature haha... I will be doing more self-portraits so stay tuned :) I actually find it pretty hard to do caricatures of myself... other people are pretty easy... but doing this one was kind of a challenge... not sure why... I've done naturalistic self-portraits before in the past and they were easy... but for some reason caricatures are harder... good practice all together though....

Concept Landscape...

I had some extra time to work on something totally different and explore some different brushes and layers.... this is what I came up with in 45 min... I admire concept artists that can come up with this kind of stuff in their head... 

Internship stuff...

Hey there.... sorry it's been so long... been really busy with graphic design classes and working as an intern for my school's newspaper, The Arbiter. Here's some illustrations I've done for them: Bill Sali and Larry Lorocco caricatures and a 9/11 7th Anniversary illustration. I referenced some photos for this illustration, but I think it turned out well. The two caricatures I think work okay, not my best stuff, but for how long I got to work on them I think I did well. I will post some more stuff as soon as I can...

Charlie...

This is Charlie from ABC Lost TV series... can't wait till the next season starts up again!

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I could still work on this a lot more, but other paintings need my attention... enjoy!

Random stuff I'm working on...

Here's some things I'm working on... Morgan Freeman and Obama. 

Amy Winehouse...

Just started an Amy Winhouse sketch. Will post more when finsihed...

Finished

Just finished, will probably make some changes later after my final crit from Jason. This is my last assignment in Jason Seiler's class :( I will miss it bad... I spent a lot of time researching, sketching, AND painting on this illustration. I started in black and white and then added color. I learned a lot in this illustration... but I am definitely ready to work on some more personal work now...

Hugh...

This is my final illustration for my online class. 

Benicio update...

Spent a good amount of time today working on Benicio Del Toro. All done in Photoshop thus far. I still have some rendering to do on his hair, facial hair, suit, and small places in his neck, but it's coming out pretty cool. I intend to color it after I have it finalized in blk/wht, although it is looking kinda good in a limited palette... we'll see what I end with :)

Metadyne Industries...

I did some re-design work for Metadyne Industries. They wanted me to take their original logo and make it look beat up and add some interesting textures. I included a close-up picture if you want to see how detailed I went... if you are ever interested in paintball or gun accessories check them out : http://www.metadyneindustries.com

Benicio Del Toro

Here's a sketch that I did this morning. I think it could turn out well in either a black & white painting or full color. I will try and do another sketch of him before I begin painting... although I will need to go and buy another sketchbook soon... I am down to 3 pages left :(

Citizen Sketches...

Just some warm-up sketches of my co-workers...

Hugh Laurie sketches

My next project is working on a Hugh Laurie illustration. Just started with sketches and trying to capture a likeness... I'll post more stuff as I'm working on him...

Finished...

I did some final renderings on this citizen caricature. I think he kinda looks like one of those garden gnomes. I should have spent more time exaggerating than painting though...

Digital sketch/painting...

Still in the sketching stage... haven't finalized the beard or proportions. Haven't decided weather I like the top or bottom one... the beards are a little different, but not sure which one works best. I'll post my final one soon. It's due tomorrow for my online class.

Cortana from Halo video game...

I needed a break from doing caricatures so I did this concept illustration of Cortana from the Halo video game series. I'll be doing one of Master Chief and of an Elite. Stay tuned...

Caricature sketches...

These are sketches from my online class with Jason Seiler (Professional Illustrator). These are drawn from photos given to us, just citizen sketches. I will post some celebrity caricatures later once I have some decent ones...

Random Illustrations...

I did these two illustrations in Corel Painter X (40%)  and in Photoshop (60%). I did the snake "Fear - Monger" in about 2 hours. The Elite Weekend Poster was for an illustration class project. I think I am finally getting the hang of making creative textures and brushes... much to learn still.

Eddie, Jack, and Paris - Digital

I will be including these 3 Illustrations in my 2008 BFA Show at Boise State University. 

More digital caricatures - Manson & Sly

Shia Labeouf & Megan Fox

My digital work - Bruce Willis

This is my first attempt making a caricature in Corel Painter X. I still have a lot of learning to do. This Illustration was shown in 2008 The Society of Illustrators - Student Show.

http://www.soicompetitions.org